Started A Fire review by One Night Only

Sound — 9
Most people will know of One Night Only through the summer's mega-hit Just For Tonight, but the band's debut album encompasses so much more than that. As soon as Just For Tonight ends the catchy 'diddle-dee-do-do-do' of It's About Time comes straight in, and yet again another catchy sing-along chorus comes blasting out of the speakers. After that, another sing-along song, You And Me, followed up by He's There, with yet another catchy chorus: "They started a fire, hoping to find night time/ Look at the stars shining so bright/ And he's there/ La-oh-oh-oh." Incase you didn't see the pattern emerging, the songs are all sing-along gems with choruses that will stick in your head. But of course, it's not just the lyrics which make this record; Mark Hayton and George Craig's well-worked guitar licks, Jack Sails' jingly piano and whirring synths and Sam Ford's thunderous drums all make for a brilliant indie-rock record too.

Lyrics — 8
The lyrics are all well thought out, but they do all tend to stick with the theme of relationships (apart from He's There, which is about a childhood friend who died of leukaemia). As George himself confesses: "... some of the first songs I wrote were about when my parents divorced and just sort of friendship/relationship based things", yet the songs are no worse off for it. George's voice is extremely unique (believe me, I've tried to copy it), it sits somewhere between Tom Smith of Editors and Luke Pritchard of The Kooks as a sort-of low but strangely pronounced sound.

Overall Impression — 9
The album, I feel, isn't given quite as much recognition as it deserves, which is a shame. Although One Night Only will forever be remembered as 'that band that did Just For Tonight', their other songs show a great writing ability which is best showcased in the Libertines-esque buzz of Stay At Home and the steady waltz of Hide, aswell as the radio friendly sing-alongs of Just For Tonight, You And Me and It's About Time. My only qualms about the album are that there is only 10 tracks, although it has encouraged me to buy their singles aswell for the b-sides, and the overly long synth ending on Hide. If I managed to lose this album, I would definately buy it again, and I will definately buy their sophomore release when it comes.